Nicholas Negroponte

Nicholas Negroponte is founder and senior director of the MITMedia Laboratory and is the author of several books on technology and the digital age - most notably 'Being Digital'. He is also a popular columnist/writer for Wired magazine. His area of expertize is in digital media and convergence.

His ideas are not always as radical or revolutionary as those of some of the other leading futurists and media gurus. But he does seem to have a knack for channeling work in directions that invariably produce useful and comercially viable technologies.

"Ask yourself about the basics, about water, air, and fire. Remember the game 20 Questions? You begin by giving a hint as to whether you are thinking of an animal, a vegetable, or a mineral. OK. I am thinking of none of them. I am thinking of 100111100010110001."

"My advice to graduates is to do anything except what you are trained for. Take that training to a place where it is out of place and stimulate ideas, shake up establishments, and don't take no for an answer."